Guy reviews his office's terrible new "smart" water cooler

The so-called “internet of things” is a hellscape of poorly manufactured, wifi-enabled gadgets, most of which contain subscription fees and dubious improvements over their less “smart” counterparts. Nobody ever wanted a tablet connected to a refrigerator, but now we have it, and it sucks.

A lot of these devices, like the Juicero juicer, the Smalt salt shaker, and even the Bodega vending machine, have been paraded around in the past year or so as emblematic of Silicon Valley hubris, as if they can package any preexisting service or contraption in a chic new minimalist backdrop and subsequently “disrupt” an industry.
newtboysays...

Me.
I bought my desktop with a touchscreen, and I've used that feature maybe 4 times in 3 years. Never again.

Jinxsaid:

Does anybody else LOATHE touchscreens? I mean, I grudgingly accept them on smart phones but most of the time they are just shit.

ChaosEnginesays...

I hate crap touchscreens. Haven't really had a problem with them on dedicated devices like phones, tablets, etc.

I do think putting a touchscreen in something like a car is borderline irresponsible. There's some promising work being done with haptic touchscreens, but it's early days yet. https://www.cnet.com/news/tanvas-reunites-touch-with-feel-using-refined-haptic-feedback-ces-2017/

But there's really no substitute for a dedicated control surface.

Jinxsaid:

Does anybody else LOATHE touchscreens? I mean, I grudgingly accept them on smart phones but most of the time they are just shit.

testlumpsays...

Got that co-worker who just exited the loo but skipped the hand washing part and now wants a nice glass of cool smart-water? Yeah... Those smears aren't defects on the touch-screen.

Jinxsaid:

Does anybody else LOATHE touchscreens? I mean, I grudgingly accept them on smart phones but most of the time they are just shit.

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